


Rafiki

by Daringdoublebassist



Series: Nat/Mia Shorts [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky Barnes & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Maria Hill & Steve Rogers Friendship, Multi, Natasha Romanov & Sam Wilson Friendship, Sam and Nat are best buddies, Steve imitates Rafiki when hugging Nat, Steve is Rafiki, The Lion King - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 10:17:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17302802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daringdoublebassist/pseuds/Daringdoublebassist
Summary: "Get your face outta that pot, Buck. You already had two scoops at the store!""You can never have too much ice-cream.""Your jeans can!"





	1. Ice-cream

The sweet cries “What’s up, Nat?” and “Hey, beautiful!” heralded Bucky and Steve’s arrival. They shook the snow from their coats and stamped their boots, discarding the weather outside. 

“Am I not beautiful?” Sam piped up from the couch, half of his face smeared with chocolate ice-cream he had just stolen from his bestie. 

He and Natasha had created a mini-cinema room in the lounge. Chairs showcased fluffy blankets and pillows piled high for maximum comfort. On the coffee table, treats and drinks roamed freely amongst a herd of DVD cases. It looked quite the party.

“You’re gorgeous, you know that,” Bucky told his partner emphatically, as he strolled into the warmth. He bent low for a kiss, before sprawling between the two on the sofa and muting the movie. Natasha received a peck also, and then Steve’s chilly arms encased her. 

“Hi Nat.” His voice eked from his throat with caution, breaking just at the wrong moment. 

“Hi Steve.” She wrapped him into her blanket hug. His ears were blistering red with cold. 

“Long time no see, missus.” His eyes found hers, twinkling like Caribbean seas.

“Just two weeks.” Her feet dangled limply in the air, as he held her up. All their hugs seemed to start this way now that Sam had introduced him to The Lion King. And those damned eyes of his; she felt as though she should tell him everything.

“But two weeks with no mission.” He raised his eyebrows and his lower lip quivered. “It’s like you ran off to other friends or something.”

“No, no.” Natasha shrugged and pried open his grip so she could slide back onto the couch. The room seemed to have heated up substantially with two extra bodies in it. She was luxuriously comfortable. “Just had to check on something.” 

“Sounds ominous.”

“Not really.” Natasha’s gaze escaped his trappings next, and she victoriously nudged Bucky with a toe, offering her ice-cream. “My informants are all very tame.”

“Anything you need help with?”

“I’ll let you know.”

Their soft agreements were shattered by Sam’s bellow. 

“Oi, Stevie! Where’s my hug?!”

A snort left Natasha before she could rein it in. Her mouth bobbed, as she surveyed the pouting face behind her. Sam tried to wobble his lip like Steve, but failed quite spectacularly. 

“He’s very demanding.” Bucky sighed, rolling his eyes. 

“You’ve trained him well.” Steve responded, evenly, eliciting a cackle from Natasha, as he took his beloved into his arms.

There was such love in this place. The apartment didn’t share the same vibe as others her friends inhabited did. They had decorated perfectly: oranges and yellows caught the sun’s rays and refused to return them. It was almost the sort of thing she longed for in her own place. But big dreams depended on when and where her nomadic wife would settle. 

With Steve and Sam engaged in cute canoodling, and the choc chip tub having Bucky’s undivided attention, Natasha could almost have felt lonesome. Almost. But then, Steve opened his mouth.

“Get your face outta that pot, Buck. You already had two scoops at the store!”

Bucky shook his head and brought the spoon to his lips. “You can never have too much ice-cream.” He sucked up the melty liquid, before tipping his head back and swallowed all the dairy deliciousness in one gulp.

The scoffed retort made him flush with indignity and embarrassment.

“Your jeans can!”


	2. Exasperation

“Talia?”

Bucky had retreated to his ‘snug’ – a basement room containing several computer gaming systems and a sound box. He kept it dark, and mostly quiet. A few guests were allowed, but too many destroyed his ambience.

“You okay?”

“Me? Yeah.” His voice shook just a little. “Steve’s a punk.” His skin prickled red and his gaze averted itself from her penetrating look. Natasha padded into the room in socked feet. His arms stretched long and pulled her into the soft sofa alcove.

“He shouldn’t have said that to you.” She nuzzled into his shoulder, smelling his aftershave and taking comfort in the cool metal prosthetic beneath his shirt.

“Maybe,” Bucky shrugged, and added with a humourless laugh, “I mean, I guess I have put on some weight.”

Natasha lifted her head. “But you’re happy?”

“I was…”

“They love you, Jamie.” Natasha now rested her chin just below his ear and blew out a breath. “Maria put on some weight recently. I think she’s as beautiful as ever. But some of our friends were very rude to her about it. Knocked her confidence.”

“Oh?”

“She cried for about 3 hours. Wouldn’t let me touch her for days.” It had been horrible watching her wife try to struggle through alone. The old Natasha - Natalia - would have gone on a killing spree, if she thought it would do her beloved any good. She shook those thoughts from her mind.

“Jamie, I adore my wife, and whatever shape she is. She’s my Mia.” She poked his face. “Steve’s stupid big mouth has no filter, but he feels the same way about you.”

“I wish he had a filter.”

She had him smiling at least.

“He’s a bit over protective sometimes.” He showed her a string of messages on a WhatsApp group. The topics explored Steve’s near immortality, and his partners’ more defective bodies: susceptible to injury, disease. “Sam usually gets it more than me, but he does worry.”

These messages were almost comparable to her own woman’s fears. Mad fears; like that one nightmare in which Natasha had been eye-height to Hawkeye’s quiver and got slapped in the face with it every time he pulled out an arrow. But it didn’t mean that James and Natasha should just put up and shut up.

“He has every right to worry,” She told him, “But no right to put you down. Don’t worry. I gave him a stern talking to.”

“I’m sure you did.” Bucky’s eyes danced before her and he shifted her round to face him. “Those so-called friends who hurt Maria… You need them dealt with?”

“I’ve done what I can. One is being persistent.”

“We adore your wife. Keep me informed.”


End file.
